Truck brake



Feb. 21, 1939. w. F. BROWN' 2,147,764

TRUCK BRAKE Filed May 19, 1938 Patented F eb. 21, 1939 UNITED STATESPATENT OFFICE TRUCK BRAKE,

William F. Brown, Hanford, Galif.

Application May 19, 1938, Serial No. 208,925

v 2 Claims.

This invention relates to warehouse trucks of the two-wheeled type, andhas more particular reference to an improvement in the type of brakeattachment, for trucks of this kind, disclosed in my co-pendingapplication upon Truck brake, Serial Number 177,787, filed December 2,1937.

An important object of the present invention is to provide a brake ofthe above kind in which the brake shoe is simplified and braced againstturning about a round truck axle when clamped to the latter.

A more specific object of the present invention is to provide a brakeattachment of the above kind which is of greater simplicity and moreeconomical to manufacture than that disclosed in my above-mentionedapplication, and which is just as efiicient and easy to apply toconventional warehouse trucks.

Other objects will become apparent from the following description whenconsidered in connection with the accompanying drawing, and theinvention consists in the novel form, combination and arrangement ofparts hereinafter claimed.

In the drawing:

Figure 1 is a View of a warehouse truck equipped with a brake attachmentconstructed in accordance with the present invention, said truck beingpartly in side elevation and partly in longitudinal section.

Figure 2 is a view similar to Figure 1 with the rear end of the trucklowered and the brake shoe engaged with the ground or floor.

Figure 3 is a transverse section on line 3-3 of Figure 2; and

Figure 4 is a top plan view of the construction shown in Figure 3.

Referring in detail to the drawing, the present brake attachment isshown as applied toa conventional warehouse truck of the two-wheel typeincluding spaced longitudinal side rails 5 rigidly connected atintervals by cross bars 6 and terminating at their rear ends inhandles 1. To the forward ends of the side rails 5 are secured plates 8provided with flanges 9 that extend upwardly over the ends of the rails5 and are connected at their upper projecting ends by a transverse barIll. The plates 8 are provided with suitable bearings to receive theends of an axle I I upon which the truck wheels I 2 are journaled. Thetransverse bar I is adapted for engagement under a box or other objectto facilitate loading of said object upon the truck in the usual manner.Ordinarily, trucks of this type are provided with legs l3, one carriedby each side rail 5, for engaging the floor or ground to support therear end of the truck with the rails substantially horizontallydisposed, when the truck is not in use or being moved about on thewheels [2.

My improved brake attachment includes a 5 brake shoe 18 comprising astrip of fiat spring metal provided at one of its ends with a pair ofopenings for reception of the stems of a U-bolt I! which is placed overthe axle II and has nuts l8 threaded thereon beneath the for- 10 wardend of shoe l6, whereby the latter is firmly and rigidly clamped to theaxle II intermediate the ends of the latter. In this way, the brake shoeI6 is attached to the truck so as to extend downwardly and rearwardlybeneath the axle ll. The shoe It is preferably curved longitudinally ina downward direction so as to form an erficient brake shoe forengagement with the ground or floor when the rear end of the truck islowered to a nearly horizontal position as shown in Figure 2. Thus,lowering of the rear end of the truck brings the brake shoe It incontact with the floor or ground and exercises a dragging or brakingaction thereon proportional to the downward pressure on the handles l,the slight tendency of the brake shoe to glide preventing undue shock asthe result of the brake. The rear ground-engaging portion of the brakeshoe l6 will yield so as to provide yielding pressure against the groundor floor to aiford gradual application of the brake. Obviously, thearrangement is also such that when the rear end of the truck is raisedto a nearly upright position such as is ordinarily had in moving thetruck from place to place or transporting a load as shown in Figure 1,the brake shoe IE will be elevated above and disengaged from the groundor floor so as to not impede the movement of the truck.

In order to prevent undue yielding of the brake shoe l6, and to preventthe latter from turning about the round axle II, a U-shaped brace I9 isarranged transversely of the truck and attached at 20 intermediate itsends to the intermediate portion of said shoe It, the end por- 4.5 tionsof brace i9 extending upwardly and rearwardly and having their terminalends bolted at 2| to the side rails 55 of the truck. This enables use ofthe U-bolt H for attaching the brake shoe to axle ll even though thelatter is round, and eliminates the need for bolts extending throughholes in the axle.

From the foregoing description, it is believed that the construction andmanner of use, as well as the advantages of the present invention willbe readily understood and appreciated by those skilled in the art.

What I claim as new is:

1. The combination with a warehouse truck including rigidly connectedside rails mounted at their forward ends upon a transverse axle providedwith supporting wheels, of a brake attachment comprising a brake shoeconsisting of a strip of flat spring metal provided at one of its endswith a pair of openings, a U-bolt placed over the axle and having itsstems passing through said Openings in the brake shoe, nuts threadedupon the stems of said U-bolt for clamping the brake shoe to the axle,said brake shoe extending rearwardly and downwardly from the axle inposition to engage the ground or floor when the rear ends of the siderails are lowered to a nearly horizontal position, and a U-shaped bracearranged transversely of the truck and attached intermediate its ends tothe intermediate portion of said brake shoe, the end portions of saidbrace extending upwardly and rearwardly and having their terminal endssecured to the side rails of the truck.

2. The combination with a warehouse truck including rigidlyconnected'side rails mounted at their forward ends upon a roundtransverse axle provided with supporting wheels, of a brake attachmentcomprising a brake shoe consisting of a strip of flat spring metal, aU-bolt passing around the axle and extending through one end of saidbrake shoe for securing the latter to said axle so that said shoeextends rearwardly and downwardly in position to engage the ground orfloor when the rear ends of the side rails are lowered to a nearlyhorizontal position, and a U-shaped brace for preventing turning of thebrake shoe about the axle, said brace being arranged transversely of thetruck and attached intermediate its ends to the intermediate portion ofthe brake shoe, the end portions of the brace extending upwardly andrearwardly and having their terminal ends bolted to the side rails ofthe truck.

WILLIAM F. BROWN.

